Ben Davies has told Spurs Play that Emerson Royal was “perfect” against Manchester City recently, and the signing of Pedro Porro might be getting the best out of the Tottenham player after another excellent display against West Ham.
Coming into the January window, it was everyone’s belief that Spurs needed to sign a new right wing-back. They got their man in the form of Porro. But, Royal was improving. It began with a goal in the 4-2 loss to Manchester City.
Then, the Brazil international really impressed in the 1-0 win over Fulham, overshadowed by Harry Kane equalling Jimmy Greaves’ record. He followed that up with his performance against City – which Davies describes as “perfect”.
Rested in the 4-1 loss to Leicester, he played every minute of the 1-0 defeat to Milan. Then, on Sunday, he opened the scoring in a 2-0 win over West Ham. Porro, meanwhile, remained an unused sub. Davies raved about Royal’s form.
“He was very good. That game against City did him the world of good. He was perfect, he didn’t do anything wrong. He was good defensively and on the ball. It has given him a bit of confidence,” Davies told Tottenham’s website.
“With a new signing coming in, it’s sometimes what you need. Football at the top level is about fighting for your place. When you’re putting in performances likes that, it is hard to ignore,” Davies continued, discussing Royal and Porro.
Davies: Porro signing getting best out of Tottenham player Royal
It makes sense. Royal might have always considered himself first choice even though the club had Matt Doherty and Djed Spence. But Doherty has gone to Atletico Madrid permanently and Spence is out on loan at Rennes until June.
Spurs brought in Porro and Royal will have known, given that Spurs have spent £40million to get him, he will have actually threatened his place in the side. It might have finally started to get the best out of Royal, in recent games.
Long may it continue, from a Tottenham perspective. A shock for Porro who will have joined Tottenham thinking he would be playing most matches – rather than remaining an unused sub as he did in the win over West Ham.
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